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How many eggs can a female lay, before needing to feed again, to lay more?
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trash-aint-treasure
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Dec 21 2011 2:33:49
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Just wondering how things work as far as female bed bugs laying eggs, as asked in the title.
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trash-aint-treasure
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Dec 21 2011 8:04:02
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Can they keep on laying eggs, even if they're starving? Do they only have to be inseminated once, or do they require occasional top ups?
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oldtimer
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Dec 21 2011 20:10:30
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Dear trash,
This work is currently being done at various labs and, if it has not yet been published in it's entirety, will soon be published perhaps at an upcoming ESA meeting.
Suffice it to say that females do need to take a blood meal in order to have the resources necessary with which to form viable eggs. There will be a limit to egg production possible and we will know these metrics soon.
paul b.
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theyareoutthere
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 13 2012 16:08:25
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Any updates, Paul?
Forgot to say..thanks for the PM explaining about heat and concrete.
And I haven't gotten any further in the book. Read a few of the 201 items!
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oldtimer
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 13 2012 17:05:23
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Hey Guys,
At the last conference one of the researchers was saying that we're up to about 12 eggs per day but the work on how many eggs per blood meal has not yet been published to my knowledge.
I'll have to remember to make a couple of phone calls to find out more info for you.
As such, I hope that not having this one piece of the BB puzzle does not cause you to lose any sleep this weekend.
Have a great night ! paul b.
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theyareoutthere
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 13 2012 17:26:00
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Yes, I forgot...12 eggs a day in optimal conditions...but it would be different depending on temperature, meals, etc.. Thanks, Paul..you are always informative.
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oldtimer
Joined: Nov '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 13 2012 18:04:22
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Ahh, as master jedi DC points out, results attained under lab conditions may not be exactly the same as we'd expect to see under field conditions.
This is why I often include the comment 'your mileage may vary'.
Those animals, and insects are in fact animals, that are kept in captivity likely behave differently than they would in the wild.
We will need to see how the data comes in before we will be able to compare it to our normal field observations.
A lot of words but not much information, sorry !
Hope this helps you understand a tad more however ! paul b.
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salq90
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Joined: Jan '12
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jan 26 2012 13:09:56
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God I hope the female BB's in my apartment aren't laying 12 a day or I'm screwed. What scares me more than that number is the fact that they can live up to a year without feasting on me. I'll always feel like they're lying dormant in some hiding place waiting to get me down the road.
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oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jan 26 2012 13:22:47
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Hi,
The god thing about bedbugs if there is such a thing as a good thing as far as they are concerned is that they cant resist a meal if one is available.
Although it is correct that without a food source they can go long periods of time without feeding this is not the same as saying that they will. The devil is in the detail as always but the reality is that if they are present they will want to feed.
David
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loubugs
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jan 26 2012 15:56:42
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Some days no eggs may be produced. The literature had stated that by 30 days if a female hasn't fed, the egg production has slowed down and also the sperm that she has stored is not being nourished or has already been used up.
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member
Joined: May '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jan 26 2012 17:09:08
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I hope some results come from the research on this.
It would theoretically make sense that the female bedbug would not be able to produce some if any eggs if it does not feed on a regular basis. Hopefully, we will learn a lot more about these critters
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salq90
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jan 26 2012 21:57:48
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bed-bugscouk - 8 hours ago »
Hi,
The god thing about bedbugs if there is such a thing as a good thing as far as they are concerned is that they cant resist a meal if one is available.
Although it is correct that without a food source they can go long periods of time without feeding this is not the same as saying that they will. The devil is in the detail as always but the reality is that if they are present they will want to feed.
DavidWait how is that good news?
What you're basically saying is that if there's a human being in the bed (aka a meal), they can't resist that meal even if they've had one already and have enough to survive in their system. That sounds like a bad thing to me.
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oldtimer
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 27 2012 9:24:16
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salq90 - 10 hours ago »
Wait how is that good news?
What you're basically saying is that if there's a human being in the bed (aka a meal), they can't resist that meal even if they've had one already and have enough to survive in their system. That sounds like a bad thing to me.Hi,
No that's not what I said basically or otherwise.
If a room is occupied and there are bedbugs then they will continue to feed as normal, i.e. every 3 - 5 days. Once fed they return to the refugia and stay there until they have digested the meal and only come out again when they are ready to feed again.
If you think like a bedbug for a second you will understand that when they are outside of the refugia they are in a harsh world full of dangers from being spotted to being killed. Therefore they only venture out when they need to for food or to mate.
Its best to put any clarification as questions than to make an assuming comment that others made get mislead by.
Hope that explains.
David
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